One Year Ago

One year ago, Dennis the Menace invaded our home.   That’s pretty much the only way I can put it.  He was a stunning hound I just wasn’t ready for.  Without a doubt, Dennis has been the most challenging greyhound in my adopting experience.  I’m glad he wasn’t my first greyhound but came to me at a time when I was better equipped to handle him and knowledgeable enough to know what I needed to do.

He can sit!  But he refuses to do so on command.

This isn’t to say that Dennis is a bad dog.  Nothing further from the truth.  I’m totally in love with him and have made my commitment to be his Mumma until the day I help him cross to the bridge.  They say you don’t get the dog you want, you get the one you need and I think that has been true with Dennis.  Sometimes you don’t realize the lessons your greyhound has taught you until you look back over years spent with him or her.  And sometimes your greyhound comes barreling in and hands you your lessons with trumpets blaring.

Dennis is such a loving boy.  And he wants to please and be a part of everything.  But Dennis has a hard time trusting.  Our first year has been spent with Mumma learning how best to introduce Dennis to his new life and Dennis learning to trust that Mumma has his best interests at heart.  We have made so much progress and I see a bright future for us as we head into year two.

Bettina and Dennis have mutually agreed to be part of the same pack.  That took some negotiation and I laugh now to think of it because it was a similar process when Bettina came barreling in (with the name Crazy Mo) and threw poor Blue for a loop.  Dennis came in from his kennel with the nickname Dennis the Menace if that tells you anything about him.  I sometimes call him Freak Show.  But our friends insist that his name is Dennis Galahad.

Dennis has proven himself to actually be somewhat of a guard dog.  He patrols his fence line like a

He plays fetch and LOVES balls of all kinds.

soldier and if anyone or anything gets too close, he puts on a show.  I always know if something is amiss.  Dennis has even taken to alerting me if my cell phone rings or I get a text or a special weather alert or an alarm goes off and I’m not within hearing of it.  He is not chivalrous at all.  If there is any sort of rain or snow melt causing water to drip off the roof, Dennis will let his sister go on the porch and stand at the door alerting me that they want to come in.  While she gets water dripped all over her, he stands at the bottom of the stairs and waits until the door is open.  Then he dashes in to avoid getting wet.

 

Dennis has a fascination with the shower which is odd for a hound who doesn’t want to get water dripped on him outside.  He’s had one bath in there so far but that hasn’t remotely put him off the bathroom.  It only took one bath for Bettina to steer clear of that room like it was the plague.  Dennis loves to come in while I’m showering and throw the curtain open (letting all my nice warm steamy air out).  He investigates for awhile and then he comes back when the shower is over so he can help me dry off by licking the water off my legs and then helping to clean the shower by licking the water off the shower walls and curtain.  He finishes that off by nibbling for a bit on the washcloth that is hanging to dry out.

Bettina and Dennis hog the cool spot during a Bowdoin Gang play date.

Dennis’s favorite scent seems to be hairspray.  When he knows I’m going to be doing something with my hair, he sticks to me like glue.  He’s learned to love the hairdryer because it usually heralds the use of the hairspray.  Once I’ve sprayed it on my head, he spends the rest of his time trying to rub against my hair and then he lays down and rolls all over the small rug on which the remaining particles of hairspray have landed. 

All my other greyhounds have had impeccable car manners.  But not Dennis.  He insisted that any time I vacated the driver’s seat; he would keep my seat warm.  He also sometimes felt it was a good idea to climb into the passenger seat while I was driving.  I had to get a barrier to put up between the two front seats.  Now Dennis rides with his head just over that barrier, or he rests his head on the back of the seat so his nose is right in my ear.  On his trip to Maine with the ladies from his kennel, he spent his time in the backseat chewing his way through one of the seatbelts in the car.  There is now The Dennis Rule at his rescue which says muzzles on at all times while in the car.

Dennis is not a rooer.  But he is an enthusiastic barker.  He loves Petco and will spend as much time as I will let him chasing the ferrets around and around their enclosure.  Thankfully there is glass

So many milestones yet to come.

between them.  The ferrets seem to enjoy torturing him. 

Dennis is a big goofy love bug.  He’s even taller than Blue was and weighs more as well.  I got exactly what I was hoping for, only it came in different packaging with a different presentation.  It just took me a little while to realize that while he isn’t goofy and loving in the same way Blue was, in his own way, Dennis is marvelous. 

Happy First Gotcha Day D-Menace.  I can’t wait to see where you take me in our second year together!

The Dennis Chronicles

We have a new family member!  Bettina and I adopted Dennis (Hallo Prospect) from Fast Friends on March 9^th.  Normally I would have posted such good news right away.  But this adoption was not like any of the other three I had already experienced.  I thought I would share our story so that any new (or experienced) adopters out there take heart if they find themselves in my situation.

I first met Dennis via a photograph on Facebook.  I had just started following the page for Fast

Friends that very day.  Shortly thereafter Dennis’ photo popped up in my feed.  He was a stunning hound.  Just breathtaking.  He’s a super dark brindle and his face almost appears black.  The photo looked like they had photo shopped a black hounds head onto a brindle body.  It stopped me and I took a moment to read the blurb that was posted with the photo.  It said he was a “big” boy with a big heart who loved to play (especially with balls). 

I looked at him a moment longer and moved on.  But then I came back.  I posted a comment asking how big was big and how old was he?  I got a quick response and an invitation to call.  I found myself picking up the phone and calling.  From there Bettina and I drove to Fast Friends to meet Dennis.  I took a deep breath and said I would like to proceed forward with a home visit.

It took a few weeks before they could bring Dennis to Maine.  I waivered back and forth during that time as to whether or not now was the right time for me.  We were only 2 months out from Blue’s unexpected departure.  But as we got closer to the date of the visit, I found myself getting more and more excited and thinking of him as mine.  I decided that was a good sign.  The wonderful ladies from Fast Friends arrived on the appointed day with Dennis in tow.  They found us and our habitation suitable and soon I was waving goodbye to them with Dennis’ leash in my hands.

Here is where things began to get tough for me.  Let me start by saying Dennis was the easiest of my greyhounds with respect to just coming out of a kennel and into a home.  He picked things up very quickly.  He wasn’t perfect of course.  None of them are.  But he did amazingly well.  That was likely our saving grace.  I found myself having a completely unexpected emotional reaction to Dennis’ arrival at our house.  I found myself comparing him to the perfect Blue I had just lost and finding him lacking because he didn’t come knowing all the stuff Blue knew.  I felt numb inside and couldn’t muster up one ounce of loving feeling towards this hound.

Let me say right here that I adopted Bettina 1 month after I had lost Girly Girl.  GG was my heart dog.  And I did not go through any of this with Bettina’s arrival.  I never once compared her to Girly Girl.  And I knew intellectually that it wasn’t something that you can do with any hound.  None of them will be the same and none is “better” than another, just different.  I expected the same situation with Dennis.  But my heart wasn’t cooperating with me and my brain couldn’t make it do so.

He arrived on a Wednesday and by the third day I found myself sitting on the couch and completely breaking down.  I was convinced that this had been a huge mistake and that it had been way too soon to bring another hound in.  I felt like I wasn’t ever going to connect with Dennis.  I am sad and somewhat ashamed to say that I was probably a few hours away from calling the rescue and asking to bring him back.  Instead I spoke with my mother.  She let me sob for awhile and then said, “You know, if you’re going to bring him back, you need to do it now before he forms a bond with you.”

When she said that, I felt my chest tighten up and I realized that somewhere down under all the emotional crap I did indeed feel something for this dog.  But my unexpected emotional reaction was blocking me from realizing it.  I decided then and there that I was going to work my way through it.  I knew that Dennis was not the issue.  So I made a rule for myself.  Absolutely no judgments about Dennis, how he was doing, fitting in or learning until a minimum of 2 weeks out from his Gotcha Day.

I also sat down at my computer the next morning and wrote out a few other rules for myself.  Whenever I found myself panicking that I’d made the wrong decision adopting so soon, or felt like he was never going to be as smart, good, loving or funny as Blue, I would read the rules.  I posted them in my kitchen where I could see them all the time.  What are the rules?  Here is what I set down for myself:

RULES FOR A NEW GREYHOUND

1.  Make no judgments until 2 weeks in.

2.  Do not put pressure on yourself or on the dog to make some sort of instant love connection.  Relationships take time to build.

3.  Your job initially is to keep the dog safe, healthy and teach them how to live a retired life.

4.  Keep telling yourself-they know essentially nothing about life in a home.  Don’t expect it of them.

5.  Trust also takes time to build.  Do not expect it right away.

6.  Pare your animal husbandry down to a minimum.  Feed basic food, wait to bathe or clip nails or brush teeth until you have built some trust.

7.  If the dog does not like yogurt, or olive oil, or omega oils this is not the end of the world.

8.  You cannot compare this dog to any dog past or present.  None of the past or present dogs were perfect initially, even if they seem that way now in comparison.

I made sure they were in nice large type and also saved them to my computer desktop so I could look at them throughout the day.  Now, any of you with prior greyhound experience will be saying, these are no brainers.  We all know that.  And I agree.  I knew them also.  However, it is apparently possible to get so overwhelmed by your emotions that you lose sight of what is or should be common sense.

I’m happy to say that at some point between the 1 and 2 week mark, I got control of my bizarre emotions relating to this adoption (and the emotions were totally about me and adopting, nothing to do with Dennis himself).  I started looking at Dennis the same way I looked at all my new greyhounds prior to him. This is to say, I was able to do away with the rules because I already knew them and now my heart was on board to.  We have connected and trust is starting to build.  I’m using the same methods to teach Dennis about his new environment that I used with the others and it’s working out so well.  He’s super smart.  I love this dog.  He’s darn near perfect now and I can’t wait to see him in 6 months, a year, and 5 years down the road. 

I knew I loved him when I finally sat down and ordered a tag collar for him.  That involved committing money to the project (being a Yankee, I hate to waste money) and more importantly the fact that his name and my contact information were going to be engraved permanently on a piece of metal that he will wear.  His tag collar has been shipped and hopefully it will arrive next week some

time. 

Making use of your network of greyhound friends and family can really help to.  Many times when I was emotionally overwhelmed I had a chat with someone I knew and trusted.  They were usually able to help talk me off the ledge.  Fast Friends has also been totally supportive and they have kept in contact with me.  It’s possible someone from Fast Friends may read this post and learn just how hard a time I had initially. Up to now I hadn’t shared any of my emotional struggles with them.  If they do read this I want them to know that Dennis was always well cared for and never put in any kind of danger, nor was he treated with anything but kindness.  Now that my heart has caught up with my brain, he’s very much loved.  I hope they don’t cross me off their list of potential adopters in the future! 

I also hope that sharing my story may help someone else dealing with a similar situation realize that sometimes there are bumps when you adopt.  Even someone who has experience with greyhounds can be taken totally by surprise by these feelings.  Sometimes the best and only thing you can accomplish on some days is just to breathe.  And that is OK.

The Milestones Keep Coming

It's hard to believe that EIGHT years ago today I went to Maine Greyhound Placement Services and met this breathtaking 4 year old greyhound.  He was white with two gray patches over his ears.  At that time one of the gray patches also covered most of his eye though these days it has faded to white except on his ears.  This greyhound was a serious handful but I was so taken with his beauty that it didn't matter.  I chose him.  He was strong and had no leash manners.  Heck he had no manners of any kind.  Early on he seriously injured my rotator cuff when he decided to take off after a leave or a bag or something interesting to him but unseen by me.  He was always doing stuff like that.  He never listened.  Anyone who knows him now never believes the stories of his early days.

What I didn't understand about Blue then was that despite his rowdy behavior, he was a very gentle and sensitive boy.  He had the misfortune of coming into a home that already contained a small brindle heart dog.  He got a bit short changed in that respect as Girly Girl shone very brightly in Mumma's eyes.  Being the sensitive boy that he is, I think he felt the role of second fiddle that I had cast him in.

Because of this difficult start it took us a long time to build a strong relationship.  For most of the time that Girly Girl was alive, I had the distinct impression that Blue, while happy enough with me, would be just as happy with anyone.  That has changed with 8 years of cohabitation.  He's my big Poppy, my Buggy Boy.  I can't imagine life without him in it and I think that he has come round to loving his Mumma as much as she loves him.

I still think he's breathtaking.  I have had the amazing privilege of watching him become a handsome old man.  He still has flashes of the silly goofy boy he was in his salad days.  He never met a blanket or a bed that he didn't like.  He has a fondness for body pillows.  He's lost a fair number of teeth but we've made accommodations for that.  Since he can no longer easily pick up his beloved sweet peas (they keep falling out of all the gaps) we now mash them up into a thick sweet pea slurry that he can eat over his dinner.

I truly can't believe we've had 8 years together already.  Blue manages to charm everyone he ever meets.  His requests for attention and his greyhound lean are legendary.  There is a long list of people who would be happy to take Blue "off my hands" if I ever wanted to give him up.  That list started on the day after I got him with his first vet and is now longer than I can keep track of.  But Mumma will never be taking anyone up on their offer.

Happy Gotcha Day Royal Bluejay.  There will always be a big boy bed and a man cave for you here.